MMRDA eyes 27-acre plot to set up casting yard

Has written to the state government, requesting it to direct Central Public Works Department, owners of the land, to hand it over to BMC

Has written to the state government, requesting it to direct Central Public Works Department, owners of the land, to hand it over to BMC

With the Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA) shortlisting a plot in Charkop for setting up a casting yard for the phase II of the Metro rail project, it appears that work on the 32-km long Charkop-Bandra-Mankhurd (CBM) corridor will commence soon. The MMRDA is eying a 27-acre plot in Charkop owned by Central Public Works Department (CPWD).

Moreover, the Mumbai Metro Transport Private Limited (MMTPL), which will be constructing the CBM corridor, has requested the MMRDA to hand over the plot at its earliest so that the actual work on the project can be started.

A senior MMRDA official said, "The main reason behind the delay in the implementation of the CBM corridor was unavailability of a plot to set up a casting yard. Now that we have identified the plot in Charkop, a request has been forwarded to the state government, asking CPWD to hand over the plot to Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC). Once the plot is with the BMC, we can use it to set up the casting yard."

While signing the concession agreement on Oct 21, 2010, ex-CM Ashok Chavan had stated that the CBM Metro corridor would be ready by 2013. However looking at the present state of work, it appears impossible for the MMTPL to meet the deadline.

Fact file
The CBM corridor is a Rs 8,250-crore project and is being executed on public-private partnership basis.

27 new stationsu00a0
The 27 stations on the CBM corridor are: Charkop, Malad (Metro), Kasturi Park, Bangur Nagar, Oshiwara, Samarth Nagar, Shashtri Nagar, D N Nagar, ESIC Nagar, JVPD, Juhu, Vile Parle (Metro), Nanavati Hospital, Arya Samaj Chowk, Khar (Metro), National College, Bandra (Metro), MMRDA, Income Tax Office, Bharat Nagar, Complex Road, Kurla (Metro), S G Barve Marg, R C Marg, Shivaji Chowk, BSNL, Mankhurd (Metro)